


Deck The Halls (And Your Face)

by hipster_queen



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, F/M, Secret Santa, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 07:57:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16909167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hipster_queen/pseuds/hipster_queen
Summary: Hoseok has been so busy that he forgot he drew your name for Secret Santa and he didn't get you a gift, so he has to keep you from finding out. His huge crush on you isn't helping in the slightest.





	Deck The Halls (And Your Face)

**Author's Note:**

> I cross-post on tumblr under the username @kpop-loving-noona if you'd like to follow me there too!

Minhyuk and Jooheon screech so loud that Hoseok gets spooked and almost spills his drink all over himself. He panics and immediately looks down, checking for a bright red punch stain on his nice, crisp white shirt and lets out a sigh of relief when there is none. 

He figures he must have tried on about a dozen possible outfits last night (who knows? He had lost count after he slipped out of the fourth one); but he had finally settled on a classic long-sleeved button down and a pair of black skinny jeans. And changing his outfit that many times would’ve been worth it if you had told him that he looked nice tonight at this Christmas party – but you hadn’t.

You hadn’t even talked to him yet.

No surprise there though. The first time you had met him, you just point blank told him, “I don’t have time for fuck boys,” and then left it at that. You didn’t have a problem with the rest of the members, but for some reason, Hoseok annoyed the hell out of you. He just had this vibe. Like the guys that go walking around thinking they’re hot shit; not an ounce of humility in them. 

Hoseok didn’t go pushing it though. He only hung out with you in groups, and even then he didn’t approach you for conversation. He just would be nervous the entire time, hoping fate would smile upon him and he’d get a chance to talk to you. Some guys had written you off as a bitch, but he felt like he understood why you were so cold. Heartache makes people react in different ways, and Hoseok just figured that some jerkoff had hurt you in the past, so you kept your guard up. He knew all about not letting people in after someone had hurt you. 

Hoseok is so distracted in his own head that he doesn’t even realize that you’ve walked up next to him and you’re refilling your glass with punch until your arm brushes against his by mistake. He shouts your name excitedly and has a big, goofy grin on his face as you stare at him with terrified wide eyes. He’s fighting internally to get his mouth to stop smiling and looking like a creep. 

“Should I feel honored you remember my name?” You ask flatly, resuming your punch-pouring.

Hoseok doesn’t say anything. The only thing that comes out of his mouth is a squeaky, awkward laugh and you raise an eyebrow at him. He’s kicking himself on the inside and begging his mouth to stop making the laugh but it won’t.

“So, um, are you having a good time?” He asks as he tries to act cool and leans back against the table, but he’s very very wrong about the table being able to hold him up and he has to catch himself from falling. 

He glances up at you, hoping you didn’t see, but you’re looking right at him and he smiles nervously.

“Yeah, I’m okay, I guess,” You say before you take a sip of your punch, “Wondering where Kihyun is so we can get Secret Santa rolling.”

Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god oh god. 

Hoseok can’t believe he forgot.

In his defense though, he had been very busy lately – what with the end of the year award shows, promoting, practice, getting gifts for the members… Oh, who was he kidding? He didn’t have an excuse. If he could remember gifts for the members, why the fuck did he forget about getting a gift for Secret Santa too? 

He silently counts all the presents that are currently under the Christmas tree and then he counts all of the people that are in the room. The count confirms it. He’s the only one who forgot to buy a Secret Santa gift. He has absolutely no idea how he was going to talk his way out of this one. 

He also knew that as the amount of presents under the Christmas tree got smaller, it would become more and more apparent that he was your Secret Santa. And he knew you would be upset with him and embarrassed in front of all your friends when you finally figured out that his forgetful ass was your Secret Santa, even if you did hate his guts. 

So Hosoek did the only thing he could think of in the current situation. 

He had to hijack Secret Santa somehow.

“Will you...excuse me… for a moment?” He sets down his punch and doesn’t wait for your response; he’s already hightailing it to the kitchen because he knows exactly where to find Kihyun.

When Hoseok steps into the kitchen, he sees Kihyun running around the kitchen in a flurry, trying to replace the snacks that are disappearing in the living room at an alarming rate. Hoseok doesn’t want to take advantage of Kihyun when he’s flustered like this, but he doesn’t really have any other choice. 

Hoseok slowly and carefully walks further into the kitchen and watches Kihyun go from the sink to the fridge and over to the oven all in six seconds.

“Heeeeey, buddy,” Hoseok says tentatively and Kihyun looks over at him like he’s ready to throw him out the window.

“WHAT?” Kihyun snaps as he slams the over door shut.

Hoseok takes a step back to protect himself.

“Um, it just looks like you could use some help…” Hoseok says as he keeps an eye on the knife laying on the cutting board that is within a foot of Kihyun’s reach.

Kihyun rips open a very large bag of chips with such force that there’s a giant tear now down the side of the bag and he dumps them all into a bowl nearby.

“I’m fine,” Kihyun sighs exasperatingly, “Just take these and go back out there.” He shoves the bowl into Hoseok’s hands.

Kihyun goes back to running around the kitchen but Hoseok still hasn’t done what he came in here to do. 

“So, uh, everyone is wondering when we’re going to start Secret Santa.” Hoseok lies.

Kihyun looks like he’s about to burst.

“Well they’re going to have to wait! I’m only one person!” He aggressively flips on the oven light, crouches down, and stares intently at whatever is inside.

Whatever it is, it smells amazing and Hoseok temporarily thinks of waiting to hijack Secret Santa so he can eat whatever the fuck this is and not share with anyone else out in the living room right now. Hoseok shakes himself out of it and sees Kihyun is still crouching down.

“I could do it,” Hoseok tries to sound casual about it, and not like his entire possible friendship with you and maybe a future romantic relationship with you is riding on Kihyun’s answer.

God, why did he have to forget such a simple task?

“Yeah, sure, go ahead.” Kihyun waves his arm around but his eyes are still on the oven.

Hoseok then books it out of there with the chips before Kihyun can realize just what exactly he has agreed to. 

You’re still standing by the snack table and Hoseok grips the chip bowl tightly with both hands, determined not to spill it and make a fool of himself again in front of you. Twice in one night due to his dumb smiley mouth is enough. 

He offers you the chips but you shake your head and so he sets them down and picks his cup of punch back up. You both stand there leaning against the table in awkward silence, watching the party. Hoseok desperately wants to have a conversation with you, but you clearly hate him, so he doesn’t want you to hate him more. But the silence is becoming longer now and you’re both still drinking your punch...and he doesn’t know when he’ll get you close like this again. 

“So I had to go to like four different stores for my Secret Santa gift...” You say and Hoseok nods and smiles, facing you, but then his smile disappears. 

SECRET SANTA.

HE DIDN’T GET YOU A SECRET SANTA GIFT.

And it’s then that Hoseok’s brain short-circuits and he just completely loses control of his arms. 

It happens in a matter of seconds. Hoseok’s cup of bright red punch tipping over while still in his hand, the punch splashing right down the middle of your pristine white dress, you screaming, and everyone else stopping their conversations and looking right at the two of you.

Hoseok looks at you sheepishly while Jooheon and Changkyun start slow-clapping from the other side of the room.

Your cheeks match the stain on your dress and you look like you’re about ready to cry and Hoseok wants to cry too because he’s so embarrassed.

“I’msorryI’msorryI’msorry,” Hoseok starts talking quickly, “Icanfixitwecanfixit.”

“My dress is white, Hoseok! What did I ever do to you??” You whine and Hoseok winces.

Everyone goes back to their conversations when they see you haven’t slapped Hoseok across the face for the accident so you two are boring to them now. Hoseok is still trying to fix the situation though. He grabs a handful of napkins and starts dabbing at the stain but the stain is very close to your breasts. He then realizes what exactly he’s doing so he drops the dirty napkins and grabs another handful.

“Hereyougo…” He mutters as he shoves the napkins into your hands and doesn’t look you in the eyes.

You shake your head, “It’s useless now. I have to go home and change.” 

You make your way towards the front door and Hoseok chases after you.

“Wait, let me go with you!” He offers.

You spin around on your heels and squint at him, “You’ve done enough, I think, Hoseok.”

“Y/N,” Hoseok’s voice gets lower, “It’s dark outside now. I’m not letting you go all the way to your apartment and then all the way back here by yourself.” 

Your heart skips a beat because you can see how serious he is right now and he’s not usually like this. He’s usually such a happy, smiley boy or a cocky, cheeky little shit – but he’s hardly ever like this. It’s a completely different side of him. And you realize it wouldn’t matter what you said to him. You know you’re not going to be able to walk out of here without Hoseok being at your side.

“Fine.” You say and grab your purse and jacket from the coat rack, “Let’s go.”

As you and Hoseok make your way down the sidewalk to your studio apartment, the snow crunches underneath your feet and you’re wobbling in your heels, trying your hardest not to fall. Hoseok is toying with the idea of offering to give you a piggy-back ride, but you’re pretty pissed at him right now and he figures he pushed it already telling you he was going to come with you. 

And his assumptions are correct.

You are still pretty pissed at Hoseok for ruining your dress, but you’re also lowkey upset that he thinks he needs to accompany you. You only lived about three blocks away from their building, and the city was an incredibly safe place, despite what your mother kept telling you. You never felt any fear when walking through it at night, but Hoseok had still insisted on keeping you company. 

The sounds of the current traffic and people doing their last-minute Christmas shopping fill your ears because like hell are you going to talk to Hoseok right now. You mutter to yourself about how you ‘could kick someone’s ass if need be’ and ‘Who does he think he is’ until you stumble in the snow because of your heels for the umpteenth time. Hoseok sighs and reaches out for you, his fingers quickly curling around your arm to make you stay upright.

“Damn it, Y/N. It would be a lot easier on you if you just let me carry you,” Hoseok grunts and you glare at him.

Oh he would just love that, wouldn’t he? Big Good Guy Hoseok giving a piggy-back ride to The Poor Thing Who Can’t Walk In Heels. Normally you had no trouble walking in heels, but the sidewalk had salt scattered on it and wasn’t exactly kicking in yet to melt the snow. So really, if you thought about it, this was the sidewalk’s fault for making you ungraceful. 

Oh. Oh no wait, it’s fucking Hoseok’s fault because you wouldn’t even be out here right now had he not spilled punch all over your dress. 

“Sorry, I don’t take offers from people who ruin my clothes,” You snap.

Hoseok bites his bottom lip hard because your response made no sense whatsoever and he wants to laugh, but that’s only going to make the situation worse. You look so adorable right now because you’re so angry but you’re like Kihyun when he’s angry – he just can’t take you seriously. You look like a little puppy trying to be mad. 

“You’re going to ruin your shoes too,” Hoseok points out, “Just let me carry you. Please.” He stops and squats down so you can get on his back. 

The people that pass by you two stare at Hoseok because he’s just squatting in the middle of the sidewalk and you’re embarrassed because they have to walk around the two of you. 

“Hoseok. Get up.” You hiss.

“Sorry, I can’t get up until you’re on my back.” He says, looking up at you, blinking quickly as the snow falls onto his eyelashes and he tries to keep it from melting in his eyes. 

You look down at him and he’s just smiling up at you, his feet probably getting wet inside his shoes because there’s so much damn snow on the ground and he’s going to catch a cold and then he won’t be able to do group things and he’s going to get hypothermia and it’s going to be all your fault and---

“Damn it,” You mutter and you exhale sharply and waddle in the snow over to where Hoseok is crouched down.

You hike your dress and coat up just enough that you can get on his back but also not get yelled at by passer-by for being immodest. When your hands are firmly pressed against his chest and you tell him you’re ready, he hops up like it’s nothing and begins the trek back to your apartment. 

Strangers going by are now looking at you both but for a totally different reason than before. Instead of whispers of ‘What is wrong with that guy? Why is he in the snow?’, you can hear ‘Awww, honey, look at them! That’s so cute! Why don’t you ever do that with me? God!’

You’re trying to ignore it, but Hoseok doesn’t hear because he’s too busy trying to ignore your breasts being squished up against his back. His boots make crunching noises as they go through the snow quickly, because he’s not sure how much more he can take. 

And it’s not that you’re too much for him to carry – oh no. You’re practically nothing to him, he doesn’t notice that at all. But the fact that your breasts are against him and now you’re so close to him that he can smell the perfume you put on earlier – it’s all becoming too much.

Hoseok is practically speed-walking down the sidewalk now as he makes his way to your apartment building and doesn’t slow down until he has to catch himself from falling on some black ice. You squeal his name as your hands instinctively grab tighter to his chest.

“S-Sorry,” He mutters, “Are you okay?” He blows some hair out of his face and turns his head to look at you as best he can. 

“Yeah, just…just slow down.” You say as your grip on him loosens just a bit.

You and Hoseok spend the rest of the time in silence as he goes down the last block to your apartment building. He carefully walks up the stairs with you still on his back and ever-so-slowly leans forward and down so you can slide off his back.

“Thank you,” You tell him as your eyes and hands are busy searching for your card key inside your purse. 

He shrugs and brings his hands up to his mouth so he can warm them. You slide your card key into the slot and the doors beep open. You open the door and hold it open for Hoseok to come inside too, but he’s still got his hands around his mouth, warming them up. You nod your head in the direction of inside the building and Hoseok raises his eyebrows at you.

“You may have ruined my dress, but I’m not going to let you freeze out here. Come on, dummy,” You smirk and make your way inside.

Hoseok catches the door before it can close and follows you inside. As you both step into the lobby, Hoseok is surprised by the décor of the lobby. It looks a little too fancy for your age – more like it’s for those rich snobby ladies with tiny dogs in their purses or mean, rude stockbroker types. Hoseok also wonders what you do to be making so much money to afford a place like this. He doesn’t really know that much about you because you’re always ignoring him while other girls are chomping at the bit to talk to him. For all he knows you could be part of some mafia. He chuckles to himself at this thought – you in the mafia, wearing a three-piece suit and kicking ass.

The man behind the front desk glances up from his paperwork and smiles when he sees that it’s you. 

“Ah, Miss Y/N,” He greets you, “Is this your boyfriend?” He nods at Hoseok.

You scoff and Hoseok feels slightly hurt at your reaction.

“He’s just a friend, Charlie.” You smile back at him as you make your way over to the elevator. 

Hoseok nods at Charlie when you two pass him, and Charlie politely nods back. Hoseok then realizes that you just introduced him as a friend...which is weird in a way. He was under the impression you fucking hated his guts. So what are you doing saying that he’s a friend? 

He doesn’t think about it for long though because he’s about to see your apartment for the very first time and he can’t help but feel excited and nervous at the same time. Your studio apartment is the place you call home. It’s a place that’s solely yours and you probably meticulously decorated. He knows how crazy you are about aesthetics (You didn’t shut up for days when you saw ‘Beautiful’ for the first time), so he’s excited to see what the aesthetic of your apartment will be.

He’s nervous too though because what if you make him wait down here in the lobby? What if he doesn’t get to see your apartment at all? 

He stays rooted to his spot as your heels clack on the marbled floor as you make your way down to the elevator. He’s still standing in the same spot when you are now at the elevator and press the call button for it to come down to the lobby.

You look to your side and see Hoseok isn’t standing next to you so you look over your shoulder and call out to him. 

“Come on, Hoseok. The party is going to be over by the time we get out of here.” 

He nods and trips over his own feet but corrects himself just in time. God, if he could get through the rest of the night without embarrassing himself in front of you one more time, that’d be just swell. 

The ride in the elevator up to your studio apartment is silent because you’re still kind of pissed at Hoseok for ruining your dress and Hoseok is having his thoughts running a mile a minute about seeing your apartment for the first time. You two are also quiet when you exit the elevator and you walk down the hall to your front door. 

“Try not to ruin the rest of my clothes while you’re in here,” You tease and Hoseok squeakily laughs and clears his throat. 

Hoseok follows you inside and closes the door behind him and when he turns around, a smile appears on his face. His apartment is exactly the way he pictured it. It’s neat and tidy, a place for everything and everything in it’s place. You weren’t allowed to paint the place, but you made up for that with covering the walls in pictures of you with your friends and family. 

You throw your purse and coat on to the couch and make your way over to your bedroom area while Hoseok continues to look at the pictures on the walls. He’s surprised to find one of him and you tucked in-between one of you and your mother and you at your graduation. Why do you have a picture of you two if you fucking hate him? 

It was taken a few months ago, back when Minhyuk had suggested you all go to a rollerskating rink. You had no idea how to, but Hoseok knew how so he offered to help you learn. It had taken some coaxing (more like your friends going ‘Ohmygod, Y/N, just let him help you, what’s the big deal), but you had agreed to let him. While the other boys and your friends happily roller-skated around at the rink, Hoseok was being patient with you and holding on to both your hands, leading you around the rink. You looked like a baby giraffe learning how to walk, but you both had smiles on your faces. 

He wasn’t even aware that the picture was taken, but he says a silent thank you to whichever of your friends did. He turns around to ask you about the picture, but you see that he’s looking at you while you’re trying to get dressed and you both blush. 

“Don’t look!” You shout at him.

Hoseok swivels around on his heels as his cheeks turn crimson. He has his back to you and he swears to you that he won’t turn around – but it’s not his fault that your body’s sillouhette can be seen in the TV screen. He’s in a state of shock because he wants to keep looking but he knows he shouldn’t. It’s not like he can see anything; it’s just the shape of you. The dress slides over your hips and Hoseok bites his cheek as his eyes travel up your form, taking in your hips, your waist, your shoulders.

He then realizes what a pervert he looks like so he squeezes his eyes shut so he won’t look anymore.

“Hoseok?” You call to him.

“Mmph?” He replies, his eyes still squeezed shut.

“I…um…I need help with the zipper.” You admit.

Fuck.

Hoseok turns around and sees you standing there several feet away from him, your head turned so you’re looking over your shoulder but your eyes are staring down at the floor. Hoseok swallows because you look so demure because your back is exposed. He wants to do nothing more than place gentle kisses up and down it and treat you like a princess.

But he fucking can’t. Because you’re not dating each other. You’re just a friend (or acquaintance? Frenemy? How on earth do you label a girl that hates you?) of his that he has a massive crush on. Having a conversation with you is already tough enough, so kissing you is completely out of the question.

You don’t seem too upset by your dress now though – ‘I have enough dresses’ is a phrase that has never and probably will never come out of your mouth – so that’s something at least. 

Hoseok’s fingers shake as he takes your hair and sweeps it over your shoulder so he can have full access to your back. He places his left hand on the small of your back to keep the dress steady and the other carefully brings the zipper up your dress.

“A-All set,” He stammers as he takes a step back. 

You turn around and smile at him but he looks like he’s seen a ghost.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” He lies.

“Hoseok, I’m not mad about the dress,” You laugh, “I was just…it’ll be hard to get the stain out but I can take it to the dry cleaners if I have to.”

He nods and says nothing in response.

You squint at him, “Are you feeling okay?”

“Never better!” He squeaks out.

You squint even harder at him now.

“Okay, well, we should be getting back to the party…” You remind him and walk over to your couch, picking up your coat and purse. 

He nods again and trails behind you but sneakily yanks the picture of the two of you rollerskating off the wall while your back is to him because you’re shutting off the lights. 

The walk back to the boys’ dorm is somewhat quiet between the two of you, the conversation being one-sided, because Hoseok’s head is swimming with thoughts now. You’re trying to get him to talk to you to be polite and have it not be so awkward, but he’s acting so… weird. 

And despite how upset you were earlier about him spilling that bright red punch all over your new dress, you’ve calmed down now. You were telling him the truth when you told him you weren’t upset with him anymore, and it’s also true that it’s nothing some dry-cleaning couldn’t fix. 

You’re asking him questions about preparations for the comeback and how his songwriting is going, but he’s only giving one word answers. And if he does manage to get out a full sentence, he says it so quietly that you can only make out half of it. So after a little bit, you get so frustrated with him, that you just outright ask him what the fuck is up with him.

“It’s nothing…” Hoseok mumbles, his eyes cast down and focusing on each step he takes on the sidewalk.

“Well, it’s clearly something,” You retort, stopping for a moment and folding your arms over your chest, “You want to try that again?” 

Hoseok shakes his head and shoves his hands deeper into the pockets of his coat, his fingers protectively curling around the picture. He starts walking faster down the sidewalk and you have to basically jog to keep up with him.

God, Hoseok wishes he could act normal around you, but right now it’s just flat-out hard. He was so excited to see you earlier but then with forgetting your gift and then the punch, and then seeing you half-fucking-naked, and...he can’t help but feel that the universe is conspiring against him tonight. The universe taunting him, going ‘Yes, hello, we know you have a massive crush on her, so we’re gonna make her mad at you, and also hey, do you remember how she thinks you’re a fuckboy? So this evening should confirm to you she isn’t even entertaining the idea of you two dating. Hahahahaha, enjoy, bitch’.

Hoseok reminds himself he’s over-exaggerating, but that’s what it feels like.

The rest of the way back to the dorm is completely silent – Hoseok bummed out because this isn’t how he thought the night would go; you pissed because he won’t tell you what’s wrong. 

When you reach the dorm building, Hoseok goes to reach for the door handle and you decide to try one last thing before you two go back inside to the party. This is probably the last time you’ll be alone with him for the rest of the night, and you won’t be able to live with yourself thinking Hoseok thinks you’re still mad at him. You may think he’s an asshole, but he looks like he’s a kicked puppy and you feel like a monster. 

You leap in front of him, doing your best to spread yourself in front of the door so he can’t get to it. 

“We’re not going back inside until you tell me what’s wrong! Is it something I did? Something I said? I promise you, I’m not mad about the dress...”

You squeal because Hoseok has lifted you up into the air by your waist, turned around, and set you back down so he’s now in front of the door and not you. He opens the door and holds it for you to come inside, but you tap your foot into the snow, crossing your arms over your chest once again.

“I’m not coming inside until you tell me what is going on, Hoseok!” You’re borderline shouting at him now, hands curled into fists like you’re a child throwing a tantrum. Because god, what the fuck happened that he was so happy to see you an hour ago and now he’s being a moody little shit?

“Y/N, don’t do this.” He groans, “Just come inside.”

“Then tell me what’s wrong!!” You stomp your foot.

Hoseok blinks at you, stone-faced, and then looks around on the floor for the door stopper. He holds the door open with his left leg, stretching his right leg as far as he can to try and reach the door stopper next to the wall. His body is mostly out of sight, except for his leg holding the door open, and you gulp as you stare unashamedly at his muscular thigh.

God, why the fuck did your friends butt themselves in on your personal life? With their ‘I swear, he has a crush on you’ and ‘Next time he talks to you, just watch him. Watch how he reacts’. Ever since they said that, you hadn’t been able to look at Hoseok as an acquaintance (fuckboy? Thorn in your side?) anymore. You hadn’t thought about him in THAT way until recently. 

You had thought you had played it cool enough in front of him all night, but getting undressed while he was in the room was definitely not how you expected the night to go. You were so conflicted in that moment because you wanted him to look at you like that, but then again, you didn’t. Because what if he didn’t like what he saw? 

He was goddamn Hoseok, an idol who could have any girl he wanted. You were just...you. Yes, okay, yes. You had had the tiniest, tiniest crush on him when you first met him. But seeing how cocky he was, you figured he didn’t need his ego fueled any further because girls were constantly at his feet and he didn’t need one more. Which is why you put your guard up and told him you didn’t have time for fuckboys. You had known a lot of boys like him. One in the past had even hurt you; and you didn’t want a repeat of that. Guys who looked and had the smug attitude of Hoseok were nothing but trouble.

While you’re lost in your thoughts, you squeal again because Hoseok has picked you up once again, this time throwing you over his shoulder and taking you inside with him. 

“HOSEOK, YOU PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW!” Your fists pound onto his back, your purse swinging around wildly. 

Hoseok doesn’t flinch once as you continue to beat on his back, now carrying you up the stairs and down the hallway to their dorm. You’re swearing at Hoseok, your legs swinging and arms flapping as you demand he put you down. He doesn’t do so until you reach the front door to the dorm.

You mumble to yourself as you’re adjusting your dress and coat.

Hoseok says nothing as he waits for you to adjust your clothing, doing his best to not stare at your curves. He’s trying to find the words to tell you the reason why he carried you all the way up here is because he didn’t want to risk the chance of you running back down and going back outside. You’re so goddamn stubborn – sometimes it’s cute, but it’s infuriating when it comes to matters of your health when you’re trying to prove a point. And he knows you would have done exactly that if he hadn’t have picked you up.

“Don’t think you’re getting away with this so easily,” You shove your finger in his face. 

You open the door and walk into the dorm before Hoseok can reply. 

Your friends all scream when they see you’ve returned, running up to you and hugging you like they haven’t seen you in ten years. They all huddle around you like they’re bodyguards, not even giving you time to take off your coat, and lead you far away from Hoseok. 

Hoseok watches you go, surrounded by your friends, and he sighs dejectedly. This night has just been one big roller coaster of emotions. He had tried so hard to get himself out of his funk – he wanted to tell you what was wrong, but how in the world do you tell a person what’s wrong when that person is involved? 

“So,” One of your friends, Mijun, begins when you’re all far away enough from Hoseok and she pokes your side, “What happened?”

You adjust the bracelet on your wrist so you don’t have to make eye contact, “Nothing. Nothing happened.”

“You two were gone for like half an hour! You can’t tell me that you didn’t see it in his eyes! He has it so bad for you!”

“Stop it. Don’t encourage this,” You reprimand her, “I don’t have a chance with him. Besides, something is up with him and he won’t tell me what’s wrong.”

Because he’s trying to figure out a way to express his undying love for you,” Your friend Jihee interjects and everyone around you breaks out into giggles.

“It’s not like that.” You glare at her, “I just don’t want a repeat of what happened with...well, you know.” Your voice trails off as you look around the room for Hoseok.

“Yeah, but he’s not You-Know-Who, Y/N. Hoseok would never do that. He’s a sweet boy, he really is. Ask anybody. And you’d know that yourself if you gave him a fucking chance.” Mijun says before she takes a sip of her punch. 

Hoseok has camped himself out by the snack table once more, trying to drown his sorrows in chips, and he almost chokes on one, chip crumbs going down the front of his coat, when he sees you walking in his direction. He turns around and tries to make himself a cup of punch so he’ll stop coughing but also so he won’t make eye contact with you. 

“ALRIGHT!” Kihyun claps his hands together and then waves them around to get everyone’s attention, “Is everyone ready to start Secret Santa?”

Goddamn it. Goddamn, goddamn, goddamn it. 

Hoseok had a feeling this was going to happen. When he tricked Kihyun earlier into giving up the duty as Secret Santa emcee, he had noticed Kihyun was just a little too frazzled – as in, he wouldn’t even remember what he had said frazzled. The stress level Kihyun was at at that particular moment in time was off the charts. 

Hoseok had been banking on Kihyun remembering he said he would let Hoseok emcee Secret Santa, but that plan’s shot now. 

“Whooo could this be for?” Kihyun picks up the first present and shakes it before he looks at the tag on it. 

Hoseok still faces the snack table, gulping down his punch, every bit of him alert because he needs to act now. And you’re not even standing next to him for two seconds before he’s tugging you across the living room, heading for the window that leads to the fire escape.

“Hoseok, what are you doing?!” You snap at him, tripping over your own feet as Hoseok weaves in and out of the crowd, his eyes only focused on the window.

“You need to come with me,” is all he says, getting closer to the window. 

“But I worked really hard to find the gift and I want to see their face when they open it!” You whine, trying to wiggle out of Hoseok’s grasp again but it’s just not happening. 

He only lets go of you when you two finally arrive at the window and he has to unlock it. Hoseok grumbles as he fiddles with the lock – Kihyun always made sure there were complicated locks on everything so Changkyun and Jooheon couldn’t do anything dangerous and stupid if they were ever inebriated. 

Or just plain bored. 

Hoseok finally gets the window open and carefully steps out onto the fire escape so he won’t slip on the snow or ice. When he’s stable, he turns around and holds his hand out to you. 

“What the FUCK is going on, Hoseok? I’m not going outside! It’s fucking freezing!” 

“That’s funny coming from the girl who was just about to spend all night out in the cold...”

He smirks when you glare at him. Fuck him and fuck his stupid smirk. ‘Sweet boy’ my ass. 

“Y/N, please,” He sighs, “This is really important.”

You stare at him for a moment and then turn around to look back at the party. You could go out there with him for a minute and then hopefully be back in time before Kihyun finished distributing the Secret Santa gifts. It would be a dead giveaway who you were if it was the last present to be given out.

“If I get sick, this is all your fault...” You mutter as you take his hand and cautiously climb out the window and onto the fire escape. 

Snow is still falling down, a little lighter than it was when you two left the dorm to change your dress. Hoseok is watching it fall, his hands jammed into his coat pockets. He clutches the picture in hopes that you won’t see it, but your attention is on his face and not his hands.

“So what is it that you wanted to tell me?” You ask, also shoving your hands into the pockets of your coat.

Hoseok’s heart beats faster as he contemplates just what he’s about to do. 

He only wanted to keep you from finding out he forgot he was your Secret Santa. When he woke up this morning, he definitely wasn’t planning on confessing his undying love for you tonight. 

His fingers twitch around the picture and he starts to make his way up the stairs of the fire escape. The metal stairs clang under his boots and you tilt your head as you watch him go. He goes all the way up to the few steps that have very little snow on them and brushes the snow away with his hands. You squint at him when he sits down on one of the stairs and pats the empty space next to him. 

You slowly make your way up the stairs, keeping your eyes on Hoseok, but his head is turned and he’s still watching the snow fall. When you’re sitting down next to him, he takes a deep breath as he realizes it’s now or never. He pulls the picture out of his pocket and holds it up for you to see. 

“Do you...do you remember this day?” He asks softly. 

Your eyes take in the scene of the picture. 

And just who the picture belongs to. 

“Did-- Did you take this from my apartment!?” You snatch the picture out of his hand, outraged he just swiped it from your apartment without your knowledge. 

“Yes, but that’s not important right now and—”

“Hoseok! I can’t believe you just took this from my apartment! You don’t just take things out of people’s apartments!” You scold him, smacking his leg a few times with both hands and he winces. 

You may be smaller than him, but you have an enormous amount of strength.

“No, listen,” He takes your hands in his own so you’ll stop hitting him and he squeezes them, “Will you just---”

You look down at your hands and then up at him, and he does the same. He drops your hands like they’ve burned him because he doesn’t need you more upset with him than you already are.

“Do you remember that day?” Hoseok asks quietly again as you stare at the picture in your hands.

“Yeah,” You nod, “I didn’t want to go because I didn’t know how to...but you offered to lead me around the rink.”

Hoseok nods too, “Right. But this is also the night I realized I liked you… as more than a friend.” 

Your silence is deafening to Hoseok so he keeps talking.

“As I led you around the rink, I realized that you admitting something like that to me – that you didn’t know how to skate...it meant a lot to me that you trusted me like that. Because you’re usually so independent and strong, and so for you to admit to me that you needed help with something…”

Hoseok has kept his eyes on the picture that you’re still holding or on his knees the entire time, because he’s too scared to look you in the eyes. He risks a glance at you, and you’re incredibly hard to read right now. You don’t look happy but you don’t look angry either. You just look like you’re trying to process everything he’s saying. 

“It just, it meant a lot to me. That you let me in like that. And there were times here and there...do you remember that one time when you cried in front of me?”

You wince because you don’t want to remember that day. That day was just a bad day all around. But you go ahead and nod, so he continues. 

“There were just things like that, that happened. You let your guard down during those times and it meant so much to me that you trusted me to let me see you like that. To see you all bare like that but...I don’t know. I don’t know...I’m just babbling now, aren’t I? God, this was such a bad idea. I shouldn’t have done th---”

You grab the lapels of his coat and pull him close to you. At first, he’s surprised because he wasn’t expecting you to react like this. His eyes are wide as you hold him there. He thinks you’re going to punch him in the face. Or headbutt him. Or try to pick him up and toss him over the fire escape. 

You stare deep into his eyes to read him better, and he’s looking back at you, and...you see it. You see in his eyes that he means what he’s saying. He’s not You-Know-Who who said things similar to that only to get you into bed. He’s not lying right now about anything he’s saying – it’s all genuine. All this time you’ve hated him...all because of what someone else had done to you. 

You were afraid. You were afraid you would get hurt again. Get taken advantage of again. But you have flashbacks in your head of all the times Hoseok has talked to you – and none of it was bravado or cockiness. It was all like a schoolboy crush and you had been such an ass to him. Fuck.

Hoseok clears his throat and you blink at him, immediately letting go of his jacket and folding your arms to keep your hands warm.

“I’m sorry...” You whisper, looking away from him.

“Wh-what are you sorry for!? If anybody should be sorry here, it’s me, Y/N. I mean, it’s no secret that you don’t like me, but I mean, it was completely out of line for me to admit something like that all of a sudden. I’m sor-”

He can’t finish his apology because you grab the lapels of his coat again and your lips collide into his. A small noise of surprise passes through Hoseok’s lips before he begins to kiss you back, relaxing into it. What started out as a fierce kiss turns into a softer one, his hand coming up and gently cradling the back of your head as you loosen your grip on his lapels. You two don’t break apart until you hear someone clearing their throat from the open window.

“If you’re both done, I’ve got your Secret Santa gift here,” Kihyun tells him, waving a blue and green wrapped gift box at Hoseok. He sets it on the windowsill before he goes back inside.

Hoseok leans in for another kiss but you put your finger against his lips to stop him.

“You should get your present first.” You smile at him.

He smiles back and practically flies down the stairs as fast as he can, swiping the gift box off the windowsill and bringing it back up to where you’re at. You bite your lip hard to keep your face serious, because if you keep smiling while he opens it, it’s going to be a dead giveaway that you’re his Secret Santa.

Hoseok holds on to the gift box with one hand while he pulls a black t-shirt out of it with the other, a confused look on his face. When he shakes it out, he sees that it has ‘FUCKBOY’ in big white letters on the front. He looks at you and you grin back at him.

“Merry Christmas from your Secret Santa, fuckboy.”


End file.
